Pakuba Safari Lodge
Lodge with river-facing rooms · North bank beside Pakuba airfield, at the edge of the Buligi circuits · Pakuba Safari Lodge Ltd, under UWA concession
Mid-range
Inside the park
Locally owned
Forty-six rooms on raised ground on the north bank, each with sliding windows onto the river, and the shortest possible drive to the game. Two things set it apart from its neighbours. It puts a complete price list on its own website, which almost nothing else at Murchison does, and it stands on the footprint of the original Pakuba Lodge from the Amin years, which fell derelict and was rebuilt under concession. The kitchen draws produce from the lodge's own farm.
Pros and cons
Pros
- One of few Murchison lodges with a published rate card
- Family room from $345, on an elevated riverside plot
- Shortest drive to the Buligi game tracks of any lodge
- Rooms have fireplaces, bathtubs and in-room spa treatments
- Kitchen supplied by the lodge's own farm
Cons
- Children aged 4 to 12 pay half the adult rate, not free
- Ownership beyond the corporate name could not be verified
- Only game drives listed; no boat or fishing on site
What's here
- Swimming pool
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Family rooms
- Spa or massage
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
Read from Pakuba Safari Lodge's own website in July 2026. Anything not listed we could not confirm, which is not the same as it being absent.
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. Murchison Falls National Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entryCharged per 24 hours, and this is the only park in Uganda's top A+ band.
- $45per person, per day
- VehicleA Ugandan-registered 4x4, the usual hire car, at UGX 40,000 including Murchison's own surcharge; bring a foreign-registered one and it is $160.
- $11per vehicle, once for the trip
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $281 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
UWA's tariff charges vehicles per 24 hours, except for concessionaire visitor vehicles, who pay once per trip. Staying at a lodge inside the park puts you in that second group, so the vehicle is counted once above rather than three times.
A ticket runs 24 hours from the hour you drive in, not until midnight. Leave before that same hour on your last day and three nights costs exactly three days of entry; linger past it and UWA counts another full day.
The full fee schedule for Murchison Falls National ParkRates at Pakuba Safari Lodge
From $180 per room. The lodge's own rates page gives $180 bed and breakfast for a single, $230 for a double or twin and $345 for a family room, rising to $200, $270 and $405 on full board. VAT at 18 per cent is included and the rates do not change through the year. Ownership is listed as Ugandan on the strength of the corporate name and no international group behind it, which we could not verify further.
What the rate covers is not confirmed. We do not know yet whether meals, drinks and activities are included, so read this as the bed only.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Rates were read in July 2026 from each property's own website, rate-card PDF or published government tariff. A lodge that publishes nothing says On request, and any figure that came from somewhere other than the property is labelled. Park fees are extra almost everywhere: $45 per person per 24 hours for foreign non-residents, plus a vehicle fee that carries a surcharge unique to Murchison. Deliberately left out, so you know why you cannot find them here. Baker's Lodge is closed, with a flood notice still standing on its operator's site, and Murchison Bush Camp has taken its place in that portfolio. Budongo Eco Lodge is closed too, confirmed by Great Lakes Safaris, which now runs Pabidi Lodge in the same forest. Geo Lodges no longer has any Murchison property despite older guides saying otherwise. Yebo Safari Camp near Mubako gate, Kabalega Wilderness Lodge and Shoebill Camp Site appear across the directories but have no website of their own that we could reach, so we cannot confirm their rates, their capacity or that they are still trading. Amuka Safari Lodge is filed under Murchison by many sites and is not here, because it sits at Nakasongola on the Kampala road roughly two hours short of the park. Aerolink's 2026 route network also names Anyadwe House and Papa's Camp at the Bugungu airstrip. Anyadwe House turns out to publish its own site, a small high-end guesthouse on the south bank of the Nile beside the park, spotted thanks to a reader correction; Papa's Camp still publishes nothing we were able to check.
Questions about Pakuba Safari Lodge
Is Pakuba Safari Lodge good for families?
Pakuba has a dedicated family room, a suite on high ground with river views, priced from $345 bed and breakfast or $405 full board. Its own rates page lets children aged 3 and under stay free, charges 4 to 12 year olds half the adult rate and teenagers from 13 the full rate. Rates are quoted per room, not per person, which helps a family staying together.
What does it cost to stay at Pakuba Safari Lodge?
Pakuba publishes a full rate card, unusual at Murchison. Bed and breakfast runs $180 for a single, $230 for a double or twin and $345 for a family room; full board adds $20 to $60 per room. VAT at 18 per cent is included and prices do not change through the year.
How do you get to Pakuba Safari Lodge?
Pakuba sits beside Pakuba airfield, so fly-in guests land on the doorstep. It stands on raised ground at the edge of the Buligi game tracks on the north bank, rebuilt on the site of a derelict government lodge from the 1970s, with the shortest drive to the game of any lodge here.
Is Pakuba Safari Lodge good for a honeymoon?
Pakuba does not advertise a honeymoon package. Its own site describes rooms with fireplaces, bathtubs, in-room spa treatments and deck views over the plains, which could suit a couple, but it does not say which room type these apply to, so confirm the details when you book.